This is chemical burn

By Anonymous · March 13, 2001

Ever since watching 'Fight Club' I have wanted to re-enact the chemical
burning scene with my very own 'Tyler Durden'. There are three reasons for
this. Firstly, the movie itself had a very profound effect on me. I can't
remember the last time I saw such a significant film. The second reason was
that, as a sexually submissive female, I am always interested in exploring my
pain threshold and trying new experiences. The third reason is simply a love
of all forms of body art (I am heavily tattooed and pierced).
The first
thing I did was to have a look for pictures/experiences of chemical branding
on BME. I didn't find any experiences, but I did find some pictures which
heightened my desire to try it for myself. The next thing to do was to find
my very own Tyler Durden!
I approached a friend of mine who has a degree
in chemistry and he agreed to be Tyler for me. He told me that the best
chemical to use would be sodium hydroxide (more commonly known as caustic
soda and available to buy in drug stores). This produces an incredible amount
of heat when mixed with water and can be neutralised with vinegar (just like
in the movie).
Sodium hydroxide is usually sold in crystal form, so it
was necessary to grind it down into a fine powder. This we did using a pestle
and mortar (wearing rubber gloves and goggles, you don't want to get this
stuff in your eyes). We decided to test the chemical on a piece of chicken
first. Tyler spooned a small amount of the powder onto the chicken and then
sprayed it with water (using a plant sprayer). We timed the process for one
minute. Nothing appeared to be happening, but when we rinsed the chemical off
the chicken there was a definite burn.
We decided to half the time to 30
seconds for my branding as an anaesthetist friend of Tyler's had told him
that the chemical would react much faster on living skin. I had chosen to
have the letter 'S', for slave, branded onto my torso above the navel. I lay
on a large towel in the middle of my living room with 'Fight Club' playing on
the widescreen TV at my side to set the scene. Tyler then proceeded to cover
my torso with a plastic sheet secured with surgical tape. This was done to
ensure that none of the chemical dripped onto parts of my body where we
didn't want it. A hole had previously been cut into the plastic sheet over
the area where the brand was to be. I had already drawn the letter 'S' onto
my skin and now Tyler traced the outline with a thick layer of vaseline, to
act as a barrier so that the chemical would only burn in the shape of the
'S'.
So, with both of us now wearing goggles (in case of splashes) and
the vinegar close at hand Tyler carefully spooned the sodium hydroxide onto
my body. I felt nothing, until he sprayed the chemical with water. The
burning began instantly and was very intense, but not unbearable. I timed the
burning for 30 seconds and then asked Tyler to wash it off. The first thing
he did was to splash water over me to wash off most of the chemical, this
intensified the burning. He then poured vinegar over the burn to neutralise
the chemical reaction. This is important as, if not stopped, sodium hydroxide
will carry on eating its way through the body.
After removing the plastic
sheeting, washing the burn thoroughly to remove any last traces of chemical
and applying more vinegar, all I appeared to have was a red mark on my body.
However, the anaesthetist had told Tyler that chemical burns take a few hours
to 'come out'. This is exactly what happened. Later that night the burn was
highly visible, with evidence of blistering. Unfortunately, for some reason
it didn't come out in the shape of an 'S' but more like the number '1'. Maybe
the sodium hydroxide started to eat its way through the vaseline? Tyler
suggested that, if we were to do it again, perhaps we should make some kind
of stencil out of plastic, secure it to my body with tape and pour the
chemical over it.
Nevertheless, I am not disappointed with the result. I
didn't really go through with it for the end result, but for the physical
sensation. I enjoy experiencing different kinds of pain, I am curious to see
how much I can take. Previously I have experienced branding with hot metal
and scarification with a scalpel. The chemical branding process was very
painful but not unbearable, I've had tattoos that have hurt more.
As the
brand was only done last night I can't really comment on the healing process
yet. I am keeping the burn clean, spraying it with an antiseptic powder and
covering it with a light dressing. I'll let you know how it progresses. By
the way, Tyler took several photographs of the whole process and he'll be
sending them to you shortly.
All I can say is that I thoroughly enjoyed
the experience. As I said earlier, it's something that I've wanted to try for
a long time and I wasn't disappointed. I was on a major high for the rest of
the night...a little bit of pain makes you feel so alive!

Details

submitted by: Anonymouson: 13 March 2001in
Scarification

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Artist: Tyler+DurdenStudio: My+apartmentLocation: Wales%2C+UK

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